200th Anniversary of Treme Jazz Mass and 2nd Line

Sunday, October 21, 2012 5:01 PM

Father Quentin Moody of St. Augustine Catholic Church listens to the Treme Brass Band play during a 200th anniversary of Treme Neighborhood Jazz Mass in New Orleans, La., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. St. Augustine is the oldest African-American Catholic Parish in the nation after it was founded by free people of color. Before the church was dedicated in 1842 a "War of the Pews" happened where whites tried to buy more pews than freed people of color and subvert the church from becoming a place of worship for African-Americans. The African-Americans in the Treme neighborhood eventually won the "War of the Pews" by purchasing three pews to everyone purchased by whites. The Jazz Mass also honored the War of the Pews and Mother Henriette Delille, an African-America Catholic who founded the order of Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans. Delille has been declared venerable by the Vatican, as of 2010, which is the first step towards sainthood.In present day New Orleans, as seen on Sunday, the church is very diverse and multi-cultural like the Treme neighborhood it serves.
(Photo by Matthew Hinton, NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune)